US Intelligence says Vladimir Putin receives misleading information from his advisers about the war in Ukraine

US intelligence sources have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin receives misleading information from his advisers about the mediocre performance of Russian forces in Ukraine, according to a US official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were recently declassified reports, added that according to the reports Putin is aware of the situation and that there is a persistent state of tension between him and the military.

The government of President Joe Biden hopes that the release of this information will make Putin reconsider his options in Ukraine. The war has fallen into a bloody impasse in much of the country, with heavy casualties and with the morale of the Russian troops for the I tend to face the unexpectedly vigorous defense of Ukrainian forces and volunteers.

But there is a risk of further isolating Putin, who according to the United States acts partly driven by the desire to regain the prestige lost with the fall of the Soviet Union.

The official did not clarify how US intelligence reached its conclusions.

The intelligence sector has concluded that Putin was unaware that his forces were using and losing conscript soldiers in Ukraine. It has also determined that it is not fully aware of the damage suffered by the Russian economy due to sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.

There is an “obvious interruption in the flow of accurate information” to Putin, as his top advisers are “afraid to tell him the truth,” the official said.

On the other hand, Biden announced the sending of an additional $500 million in direct aid to Ukraine.

A White House statement said that Biden informed Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky about the decision during a 55-minute telephone conversation,

The United States did not clarify whether that money will be for humanitarian purposes or will come in the form of military aid.

Congress approved a few weeks ago to send $13.6 billion worth of military and humanitarian aid. The government said it had sent $2 billion of that amount before Wednesday's announcement.

In Wednesday's call, Biden and Zelensky spoke about the efforts of the United States and its allies to identify “additional capabilities” with which to assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They also addressed the military aid that Washington has already sent to Ukraine and how those weapons have had a “critical effect” on the conflict.

The two leaders also discussed the situation on the battlefield and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, who on Tuesday met in Istanbul, Turkey, to move closer positions for a ceasefire.

In those talks, Russian negotiators pledged to significantly reduce the number of troops around Kiev and the besieged northern city of Chernihiv in order to focus on the conquest of the Donbas, the primary objective of the Kremlin.

However, the Russian government declared on Wednesday that the negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on Tuesday did not result in anything “very promising” or any “progress” , throwing a bucket of cold water on the hopes of progress towards ending the war.

“At the moment, we can't report anything very promising or a breakthrough. There is a lot of work to be done,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the press.

Ukrainian authorities reported that both cities continued to be attacked in recent hours. The Russian announcement had been taken with skepticism by the West.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said today that Russian troops continue to withdraw from the territories of the Kiev and Chernihiv regions, but considered that Russia has only “temporarily renounced the objective of blocking” the capital in the face of “significant losses” it has suffered.

He indicated that Russia “is accumulating forces in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.”

In those talks, Russian negotiators pledged to significantly reduce the number of troops around Kiev and the besieged northern city of Chernihiv in order to focus on the conquest of the Donbas, the primary objective of the Kremlin.

(With information from AP and EFE)

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